


To Buy a Cake, to Howl at the Moon

by punk_rock_yuppie



Series: Fic-Tac-Toe [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Baker!Draco, Bakery AU, F/M, HD Birthday Bash 2018, Harry is pining, Hermione is Meddling, M/M, Multi, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 19:18:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14983805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_yuppie/pseuds/punk_rock_yuppie
Summary: Draco runs a bakery. Hermione meddles. It's really not so bad.





	To Buy a Cake, to Howl at the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> aaand square 4 for fic-tac-toe. thanks again to hannah! this is the last one i've got stocked up, but i'm working on the last five! fingers crossed i can get them all finished, i really wanna knock out the whole bingo card!
> 
> anywho, enjoy!

Draco’s looks up at the first hint of raised voices. The hairs on the back of his neck and forearms stand up, and he swallows around a sudden lump of irritated fear that rises in his throat. His shop isn’t open for the day quite yet, but that hardly ever stops vandals. If they want to wreck his storefront, they’ll do so— _have_ done so—whether he’s open for business or not.

Cautiously, he walks around from behind the counter and approaches the door hesitantly. The windows have a frosted glass charm to obscure people looking in, but Draco has a perfectly clear look outside. He stops short of the door and simply watches the bickering on his doorstep.

Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley are on the steps to his bakery: Weasley is pink in the face like an unattractive cherry tomato, and Granger has an agitated blush on her cheeks as she argues with him. He can’t quite make out the words, only that they’re both growing in volume. Draco watches them for a bit, almost amused, before his clock chimes and tells him it’s time to open.

Clearly, Granger had a timer set as well, because her ranting stops mid-sentence and she looks at the front door expectantly.

Sighing, Draco waves his wand so all the lights in the store take on their soft, off-white glow (bright, but not _too_ bright). He hurries back behind the counter and casts a quick _alohamora_ ; the door opens barely seconds later.

“We’re not doing this,” Weasley announces the minute his foot is over the threshold.

Granger glares at him once more. “Hush, Ronald.”

Draco raises an eyebrow but keeps his expression otherwise cool. “How can I help today?” He asks evenly.

Weasley opens his mouth to say something else disparaging, but Granger clearly kicks him in the shin.

Were he less professional, Draco might’ve laughed.

“We’d like to put in an order for a cake.”

Draco nods and retrieves a quick-notes quill from the drawer beside the register. A piece of parchment floats over and the items wait patiently as Draco asks, “Very well, what’s the event?”

Weasley looks so angry not to speak, he’s going purple in the face. Granger answers smoothly. “Harry’s birthday.”

Draco feels his eyes widen but quickly schools his expression to something more neutral. “And what flavors does Potter want?”

Weasley bristles at the use of the Chosen One’s last name but Draco ignores him, as does Granger.

“He quite enjoys apple, or pumpkin. His favorite dessert is treacle tart, though so we were thinking maybe something along those lines—?”

“This is a cake shop, Granger. We make cakes and sometimes cupcakes.”

Weasley opens his mouth yet again but Granger cuts across. “We know. We were thinking perhaps the flavors of a treacle tart in a cake?”

Draco reigns in a sigh. “That’s doable,” he says. “But if Potter likes treacle tart so much, why not just get him a treacle tart for his birthday rather than a cake?”

Granger’s mouth opens, and she falters. “Er, well. Treacle tart gets a bit old, doesn’t it?”

“Not if it’s your favorite food, it doesn’t,” Draco retorts.

“That’s what I said,” Weasley chimes in suddenly. He looks no less sour and is still red in the face, but something in his tense posture loosens. “Harry likes _treacle tart_ just fine. So, he can keep on having _treacle tart_ and be happy with it.”

Granger pins Weasley with a long-suffering stare. “Ron,” she says with a heaving sigh.

“Not that it’s really any of my business,” Draco starts, then stops. “Or I suppose it _is_ my business, since it may involve my cakes—regardless, if Potter wants treacle tart, just give him some bloody treacle tart.” He distinctly feels like he’s possibly missed something, especially given how Weasley keeps muttering _“treacle tart”_ under his breath.

“I’m sure he’s at least a _little_ tired of it by now,” Granger insists.

Draco takes a silent, deep inhale to calm his rising annoyance. “Alright, then what flavor are we going with?”

“Do you do taste tests?”

“Yes, if needed.” He answers slowly, unsure of where this is going.

“What if we brought Harry by for a taste test?”

“Isn’t the cake meant to be a surprise?”

Granger’s eyes widen and Weasley snorts. “Er, not precisely. He does know when his birthday is, after all.” Granger’s words come quick and set Draco on edge. “Just, might make it easier—?”

“What _are_ you getting at, Granger? Because it’s certainly not a _cake_.”

Weasley lets out a sudden guffaw. “He got you,” he tells Granger gleefully. Draco can’t help but snort at that, and Weasley grins at him for a split second before seeming to remember who they both are. “Let’s just _go_ , ‘Mione.”

“No.” Granger plants her feet wide apart and crosses her arms over her chest. She looks from Weasley to Draco like a tennis ball flitting back and forth across a court. Just watching her makes Draco a little dizzy. “Ron, why don’t you go wait outside?”

Weasley’s irritation from before returns. “No, Harry’s my friend, too. M’not just gonna hang around and let you set him up with this git.”

Draco’s brain takes a few seconds to register the words, but when they click he startles and takes a step back. He bumps into the quick-notes quill and parchment, and they clatter to the ground. “Pardon?”

Granger sighs. “Ronald!”

“Like he wasn’t going to figure it out anyways,” Weasley counters with a slightly appraising look in Draco’s direction. “Let’s just _go_.”

“No!” Granger snaps, voice louder. “You want the truth?” She asks Draco, who nods faintly. Granger sighs and seems to settle slightly. “Harry _loves_ your cakes, Draco.”

Draco blinks.

“Ginny had one for her and Luna’s anniversary,” Granger explains. Draco remembers that one, lavender and citrus. A somewhat unusual combination but the happy couple had been delighted over it. Luna never told him Potter was enamored with it, too. “Blaise brought by a batch of cupcakes to the joke shop, and Harry happened to be helping out that day…”

Draco blinks again. “Potter likes my baking, so you’re trying to set us up?” Draco asks, his voice cracking part way through with disbelief. He lets out a slightly hysterical laugh. “Is this a prank? Are you taking the piss? You can’t expect me to believe this.”

“Told you,” Weasley hisses.

“It’s true,” Granger replies, entirely ignoring Weasley’s muttering. “At first he thought you might be up to something—?”

“I make _cakes_ , what nefarious things could I _possibly_ be up to?” Draco asks though Granger pays him no mind.

“But Luna and Ginny mentioned how lovely it was to work with you, and of course Blaise had nothing but good things to say—!”

Draco’s neck flushes at the thought; Blaise likes more than Draco’s _baking_. Regardless of Blaise’s likely ill-fated crush on the remaining Weasley twin, he definitely likes Draco for more than his _baking_.

Not that Granger or Weasley need to know that.

Draco protests, “That’s really not—?” But his attempts to interject are breezed by.

“And really, Harry’s always had a bit of a thing for you, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.”

Weasley groans and gives up. He stares at the ceiling instead, and Draco envies him, a bit. He wishes he could tune out as well, but Granger is throwing all this information at him with the clear expectation that Draco absorb it.

“So, we thought— _I_ thought it’d be a… a decent idea.” Granger concludes lamely, her steam clearly having run out.

“You thought setting me and Potter up for a shag would be a _decent_ idea?”

“Not a _shag_ , you berk.” Her cheeks tinge pink. “Or not _just_ a shag. A proper date.”

Silence falls over the shop. Draco stares at Granger who stares back, and Weasley keeps staring at the ceiling. Draco weighs everything he’s just heard with everything he’s known about Potter. The part of him having a _thing_ for Draco isn’t especially surprising, and despite their past—or maybe because of it—the knowledge sets off a thrill in Draco’s veins. And Potter likes his baking, so even if they don’t _date_ , he could at least maybe get the Chosen One’s endorsement….

“One date.” Draco declares it steadily, impressed with his voice for staying even. “One date, somewhere nice, just Potter and me.”

Granger’s deep brown eyes light up. “Brilliant! I’ll owl you the details.” She takes Weasley by the elbow and starts to drag him to the door. “You won’t regret this!”

“We’ll see,” Draco says after them, just loud enough to be heard before the door falls shut. He bends to retrieve the quick-notes quill and parchment from the ground. He sets them back in their drawer and leans on the counter. He looks over to his display case, full of fresh goods for today’s crowd (should they ever show).

He taps his bottom lip thoughtfully. Potter likes his baking… it would be remiss not to bring a treat to whatever their date ends up being, surely.

Draco snags a regular quill and parchment from a different drawer and starts to brainstorm.


End file.
